Thursday 9 August 2012 12.45 EDT
First published on Thursday 9 August 2012 12.45 EDT

The unbeaten USA women's volleyball team advanced to the Olympic final with a straight-sets victory over South Korea on Thursday. The team will play for the title Saturday, against Brazil or Japan.

The top-ranked US has dropped just two sets in London. In the latest victory, Destinee Hooker scored 24 points in a 25-20, 25-22, 25-22 win at Earls Court.

The American women made it to the final at the 2008 Beijing Games but settled for the silver medal after losing 3-1 to Brazil. The team has won silver twice and bronze once since volleyball joined the Olympics in 1964.

Fifteenth-ranked South Korea upset the No 4 seeds, Italy, in four sets on Tuesday but the US now has a 6-2 record against them in Olympic matches, including a 3-1 victory in the opening match of this tournament. The US also got an emotional boost for the match with the return of their captain, Lindsey Berg, who was kept out of the straight-sets quarter-final victory over the Dominican Republic by an injury to her lower left leg.

The match was tight at the start, but the US pulled ahead 20-16 in the first set on Hooker's kill. The South Koreans denied the first chance at set point before Kim Yeon-koung's serve sailed out to give it to the Americans.

South Korea took a 14-11 advantage in the second on Jung Dae-young's kill, but mistakes cost them. Kim's misplayed spike gave the United States a 23-22 lead, and Han Yoo-Mi's kill went wide for set point.

Jordan Larson's spike made it 15-10 in the third set but South Korea fought back to even it at 18 on Kim's ace. But Hooker's monster spike set up Logan Tom's kill for match point. Kim scored 20 points for the South Koreans.

Berg, a three-time Olympian, hurt her leg in the the final preliminary-round match, against Turkey on Sunday. After the win over South Korea the USA coach, Hugh McCutcheon, made a point of embracing her. Saturday's match will be a second straight Olympic final for McCutcheon, who took the American men to a gold medal in 2008.